Winter Skin Rescue

Winter Skin Rescue by elbonner featuring an origins skincare

When winter comes my skin turns into a dry, flaky mess that requires a lot of attention. To keep from getting red, itchy, wind-burnt, and broken out I use lots of great products to keep everything calm and sexy.

1. Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate: smells like an herb garden with lavender and other apothecary favorites and melts into your skin to make you look moisturized and refreshed in the morning. I use this every other night (using a glycolic acid exfoliator on my off nights) and this keeps my skin from being red or itchy. This has never made my skin break out which is wonderful because this is a facial oil. Don't be afraid of facial oils,especially in the winter!

2. Kiehl's Rosa Arctica Cream: another great from Kiehl's, this cream is thick and luxurious and holds all of the moisture in! This is my night cream, but if your skin is super dry this can definitely be worn as a day cream. The arctic thistle in this cream has some magical skin properties that rejuvenate and hydrate the driest of skin.

3. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil: put in on your body, shave with it, deep condition your hair with it, remove your makeup with it. Coconut oil is my secret weapon in the winter for anything that needs moisture. You can get it at the grocery store, it lasts forever and smells like macaroons. WIN WIN.

4. The Body Shop Body Butters: thick, creamy, a multitude of great smells; what isn't there to say about this stuff? When you put this on in the morning it will remain on your skin until the next morning (if you're gross and don't shower like me).

5. Kiehl's Cream Eye Treatment with Avocado: Another thick and creamy eye cream with avocado oil that keep dry eye-skin at bay. Best winter eye cream I've tried.

6. Lush Angels On Bare Skin Cleanser: This is a freshly made,non foaming cleanser consisting of almond paste, lavender buds and lots of lovely skin ingredients that cleanse without drying. I like to stay away from foamy things in winter because they dry out my skin so badly and this is one of my favorite foamless cleansers. The smell is great for before bedtime when you want to relax.

7. Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizing Balm: Some tinted moisturizers don't have what it takes to keep your skin soft and foundation can dry it out all together. This tinted moisturized is THICK and won't leave you looking flaky. It has a decent coverage and saves you from fine lines showing up which can happen with some drying foundations.

8. Bliss Clog-Dissolving Cleansing Milk:another non-foamy cleanser that caters to acne prone skin types. Winter may dry out your skin, but it can irritate it and irritation makes me break out more than oiliness. This has a great smell and enzymes to exfoliate dead skin off your face leaving it soft and glowy.

9. Origins Modern Friction: This is a heavy-duty exfoliator wit bits of blue corn and rice that scrub away all the flakiness. Use only three times a week or you could damage your skin. It makes my skin smoother than anything else!

10. Aveeno Skin Strengthening Moisturizer: This lotion contains ingredients that help beef up thin skin (which I have) and helps it hold in moisture. Because my skin is so thin I have a hard time with my arms and legs getting dry half-way through the day and no one wants to see my hairy winter-coated legs at work. Aveeno products use colloidal oatmeal to keep in the moisture and it works like a charm.

Hope this helps and sorry if there's not a lot of quick wit and humor in this post. I'm tired and I need my bath, but I wanted to post something tonight! Keep it soft and sexy people!

Cleansers

Cleansers by elbonner featuring Bliss face cleansers

As great as summer is, it can really wreak havoc on your face. The heat and use of some sunscreens can make your skin oily and more blemish prone or the prolonged sun exposure can dry everything and make it flaky. It's imperative that you have a good cleanser to take all that oily grossness of at the end of the day so that you don't end up looking like Pizza Face. I've compiled a few of my favorite facial cleansers I've tried over the years since my skin type has changed from oily to combination dry. My misfortune becomes your benefit since I can recommend more products! 

1. Probably my all-time favorite cleanser since I can use it all year-round in Korres Milk Proteins Foaming Cream Cleanser. I friggin' love Korres products and have NEVER used one that I didn't think was the bees knees. This cleanser is $21 so not super cheap, but you only need a bit and the bottle lasts forever. My skin get way dry in the winter and it never feels tight after I use it and when my skin is oily in the summer it gets rid of all the nasties. 

2. Another nice cleanser that is pretty similar to the previous one is Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash. This stuff smells awesome, kind of minty and herby and always helped wake me up a bit when used in the morning. This cleanser foams up a lot too and is great for combination to oily/sensitive skin. I like pretty much all of the Origins products I've tried too. This one is $19.50, so a bit cheaper than the Korres cleanser, but both are the same size. If you want an herbal pick-me-up go for this one!

3. Bliss makes some good stuff. Not as natural or earthy as Korres or Origins, but they have a great range. Their triple oxygen line of products is wonderful if you like that super fresh, tingly feeling and their Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Cleansing Foam is great if you like mousse/foam cleansers. This takes off makeup pretty well and makes you feel so fresh and so clean. The oxygenating action also made my face look a little bit brighter too. At $28 it's one of the more expensive cleansers, but you're getting what you pay for. 

4. Another favorite from Bliss is the Clog-Dissolving Cleansing Milk. This formula does NOT foam and goes on like a milky cream that smell clean and fresh. I like to use this in the winter time when my skin is feeling a bit dry or when I feel like I've overdone it with foamy cleansers. I like this because though my skin is on the dry side, I still have issues with blackheads and the enzymes in this cleanser help to eat away at the yucky stuff while still being moisturizing. No clogging, no film, just an all-around good cleanser for dryer more sensitive skin. 

5. This is another non-foaming formula that is focused on more acne prone skin. The ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser (aliteration much?) from REN utilizes the power of clay to gently dry up zits and all the gross stuff inside them. After bombarding my acneic skin with the harshest cleansers I could find, my skin got incredibly dry and sensitive and I wish this had been around when I was more pimply. It has a clean scent and doesn't have anything harsh that could further irritate your skin. This cleanser is part of a 3-step system just for acne sufferers!.

6. Our last cleanser is not really a cleanser in the traditional sense. The Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant a gentle exfoliant that doubles as a super gentle cleanser great for more mature skin types. I also find this nice to use when I have a sunburn and want something that isn't going to take moisture away. This comes as a powder that you add a few drops to and make into a paste. You choose how grainy the texture gets so the exfoliation factor can be significant to almost nonexistent and the texture ranges from a thick paste to a milky watered-down-oatmeal like consistency. It's a blend of rice powders and exfoliating acids that keep your skin sexy smooth without pissing it off.

Hope you enjoyed this cleanser overview. I have used all of these products for years and wouldn't throw them on here without being truly impressed with them so happy cleansing everyone!